Personal Injury

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In O’Connell v. Macy’s Corporate Services, Inc., 154 A.D.3d 628 (N.Y.A.D. 1 Dept. Oct. 31, 2017), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s personal injury claim against Macy’s. In sum, plaintiff alleges that on or about November 28, 2013, she was struck by an all terrain-vehicle driven by the Defendant Jeff Stanton.…

Read More Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Handler Volunteer’s Injury Claim Properly Dismissed in Light of Release
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From Vasquez v. Chimborazo, 2017 NY Slip Op 07774 (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. Nov. 9, 2017): Plaintiff established her entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence that her vehicle was stopped at a red light when it was rear-ended by defendants’ vehicle (see Bajrami v Twinkle Cab Corp., 147 AD3d 649 [1st…

Read More Rear-Ended Plaintiff Entitled to Summary Judgment, Court Holds
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From Linhart v. Rojas, 2017 NY Slip Op 06980 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Oct. 5, 2017): Plaintiff’s notice of claim and complaint, as amplified by her bill of particulars, asserted claims against defendant NYCTA for failing to provide proper security, failing to prevent the assault by defendant Jose Rojas, who pushed plaintiff into an oncoming train, and…

Read More Subway-Push Lawsuit Against NYC Transit Authority Survives Summary Judgment
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In Correa v. Matsias, 2017 WL 4159254 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. Sept. 20, 2017), a ceiling-collapse personal injury case, the court held that plaintiff could not employ the doctrine of “res ipsa loquitur” at trial. That doctrine, explained the court, is a rule of evidence that permits an inference of negligence to be drawn solely from…

Read More “Res Ipsa Loquitur” Doctrine Held Inapplicable in Ceiling-Collapse Personal Injury Case, But Complaints to Superintendent Demonstrated Notice Sufficient to Overcome Summary Judgment
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One common type of personal injury case involves someone being injured as a result of tripping and falling on someone’s property, resulting in injury. In these so-called “trip-and-fall” cases, courts have developed and applied the “trivial defect” doctrine. The Law In determining whether a defect is “trivial” as a matter of law, the court must…

Read More The “Trivial Defect” Doctrine in Personal Injury Trip-and-Fall Premises Liability Cases
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One frequently-occurring personal injury case is the so-called “slip-and-fall” case, which in turn is a species of “premises liability” claims. One court[1]Decker v. Middletown Walmart Supercenter Store, No. 15 CIV. 2886 (JCM), 2017 WL 568761 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 10, 2017) recently summarized the law as follows: In New York, [t]o establish a prima facie case of…

Read More Surviving Summary Judgment in a Slip-and-Fall Premises Liability Case
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In Lee v. Acevedo, 2017 NY Slip Op 05586 (App. Div. 2d Dept. July 12, 2017) – a personal injury premises liability case – the Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s award of summary judgment to defendant. Here are the facts, as summarized by the court: [Plaintiff alleged that she was injured] after she fell backwards…

Read More Fall-Down-Stairs Personal Injury Case Survives Summary Judgment
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In Chojnacki v. Old Westbury Gardens, Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05706, 2017 WL 3045841 (App. Div. 2d Dept. July 19, 2017), the court reversed a lower court’s finding that the alleged defect that caused plaintiff to fall – a raised brick – was “trivial” as a matter of law. From the decision:: The Supreme Court…

Read More Trip/Fall Case Survives Summary Judgment; Raised Brick Was Not a “Trivial Defect” as a Matter of Law
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In Lebron v. 142 S 9, LLC, 151 A.D.3d 835, 54 N.Y.S.3d 679, 680 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June 14, 2017), the Second Department affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s personal injury slip-and-fall case. Here, plaintiff alleged that she was injured when she slipped and fell on…

Read More Slip/Fall Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment; Defendants Did Not Submit Evidence Regarding Specific Cleaning
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You may have read a recent news story about a group of teens who recorded and mocked a disabled man, Jamel Dunn, as he was drowning. If this happened in New York, could the observers be liable in a civil action to recover damages for personal injury/wrongful death?[1]Whether criminal liability may be found is beyond…

Read More Duty to Help Those in Danger
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